Seven-Course Turkey Tasting Menu, Part I

I hope you all had a very Merry and Delicious Christmas/Holiday! I took a short little break from my blog this past week as I was keeping busy in the kitchen, planning and prepping the big Christmas dinner I had planned for my family. A few weeks back, I had come up with the brilliant (re: crazy) idea of doing a turkey tasting menu. The ideas came pouring out, and after lots of planning and brainstorming on various scraps of paper, I realized that I had come up with a seven-course menu. Yes, seven-courses. Ambitious indeed.

The final menu looked a little something like this:
A seven-course tasting menu that would include an amuse-bouche, a soup, a starter, two entrees, a palate cleanser in between the entrees, and a dessert. Five of the seven dishes would feature turkey.

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I'm Thankful For...Pumpkin Flan

There's always so much to be thankful for come each Thanksgiving—family, friends, good health, a roof over my head, a safe and loving environment, never having to go hungry, etc. I'm so blessed to have all these things when there are so many others around the world who struggle to have at least one of these to be thankful for. Things that we might easily take for granted in our every day life.

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Lovely Jubbly Time at the Dish Cooking Studio

About two weeks ago, I went to check out the Dish Cooking Studio with my friend Suzanne. I happened across one of those group discounts in my email and sent it along to Suz, thinking it would be fun to spend a night cooking in the same kitchen. Before we knew it, we had signed up.

Rather than a cooking school, Dish describes itself as “a culinary destination for people to connect and have fun together.” If you're looking to pick up some kitchen skills, you're probably better off at, say, George Brown. Not to say that Dish probably won't walk you through some of the basics. It's just that their aim isn't to make a chef out of you. It's to ensure that you have a good time cooking in the kitchen, meeting new people, and enjoying a great meal at the end of it all.

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Meatless Monday: Braised Beans, Kale and Golden Onions with Tomato

As I've mentioned before, I've been eating a lot of beans during my detox, all of which have been cooked from the dried stuff. It's so convenient and easy to reach into your pantry for a can of beans, but there is still a small amount of additives that go into the cans to help aid in a longer shelf life.

Cooking dried beans is honestly not hard. The thing to remember is to soak your beans the night before you want to use them. Once you have that done, it gets easy. Just add the drained, rehydrated beans to a pot of salted boiling water, along with any other aromatics you may wish to use (garlic, herbs, bay leaf, or just plain) and simmer for at least an hour, or until tender. Drain, rinse and keep refrigerated until ready to use.

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An Evening with Jamie Oliver

About 3,500 eager fans gathered at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre last Thursday, November 18 to see Jamie Oliver as part of The Art of Cooking series. The powers of a star chef. The crowd was about a 50/50 split between men and women, so it speaks volumes as to how admirable and inspiring a person Jamie is to everyone (and not just a cutie who can cook damn good food). It's no surprise from a previous post that I'm a big fan of Jamie myself, and I was thrilled to have the opportunity to see Jamie live and in person.

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